New research has resolved the cryo-EM structure of iRhom1 bound to the zymogen form of ADAM17, a membrane-anchored protease whose dysregulation is implicated in inflammation, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

ADAM17 drives the release of key signalling proteins, including TNFα and EGFR ligands, but the mechanisms governing its activation at the cell surface have remained poorly understood. The inactive rhomboid proteins iRhom1 and iRhom2 are essential regulators of ADAM17 maturation, yet despite sharing 61% sequence identity, they exhibit distinct tissue expression patterns and substrate selectivity.

The new structure-function analysis identifies the iRhom1 re-entry loop and TM5 helix as critical regulatory elements that position ADAM17 for efficient substrate cleavage, even without directly contacting the protease. Molecular dynamics simulations further illuminate how iRhom1 orientates ADAM17's catalytic domain. The findings provide a structural framework for developing therapeutics that selectively target ADAM17 in disease contexts.

Genentech has offered grants of up to USD $125,000 to academics willing to produce papers on topics closely aligned with pharmaceutical industry lobbying priorities, including the impact of US drug pricing policies on innovation, R&D risk, and domestic pharma as a national security asset.

Critics argue the solicitation is unusually direct. Where industry funding typically involves open research calls, Genentech has specified the conclusions it wants explored, notably absent are questions around true development costs, profit margins, or alternative pricing models.

The timing is significant. With NIH grant awards falling 66% in early 2026 and federal research budgets facing further cuts, academics are under mounting pressure to seek alternative funding, making industry grants increasingly attractive and potentially compromising. "Industry research tends to reach industry conclusions," warned Robin Feldman of UC San Francisco. "Academics are a trusted source of reliable information. We can't afford to lose that trust."

Innovent Biologics and HUTCHMED have secured NMPA approval in China for a combination regimen of sintilimab (TYVYT) and fruquintinib (ELUNATE) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma who have progressed on VEGFR-TKI therapy but not previously received PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor treatment.

The approval is backed by the FRUSICA-2 trial, a randomised, open-label study comparing the combination against axitinib or everolimus monotherapy in the second-line setting. The study met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival by blinded independent central review.

The regimen addresses a clinically significant gap for patients who have exhausted first-line targeted therapy but remain immunotherapy-naïve, a population with limited options. Investigators from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and Peking University First Hospital described the results as compelling evidence for reshaping second-line treatment strategies in this difficult-to-treat disease.

For 20 years, Prix Galien USA has honored the breakthroughs shaping the future of healthcare and improving lives worldwide. Often regarded by the industry as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize of biopharmaceutical research, this is where innovation meets impact.

From groundbreaking therapies to life-saving technologies, this is more than an event, it’s a global movement advancing human health.

Follow The Galien Foundation on LinkedIn to stay updated on announcements, speakers, and innovations leading up to the event.

Gilead Sciences has announced a renewed five-year collaboration with the World Health Organisation to accelerate the elimination of visceral leishmaniasis, a sandfly-borne parasitic disease that is fatal if untreated and disproportionately affects lower-resource regions.

Under the agreement, Gilead will provide more than 400,000 vials of AmBisome and USD $9.2M in financial support through 2030. The partnership targets East Africa, where disease burden remains highest, alongside programmes across Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Nepal, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, among others.

The collaboration builds on a track record of measurable impact: coordinated efforts have already driven a 95% reduction in new VL cases across Southeast Asia since 2005, demonstrating that elimination is achievable with sustained investment.

WHO's Dr. Jeremy Farrar called the agreement a demonstration of how strategic public-private partnerships can advance global health priorities, with Gilead's CEO Daniel O'Day describing VL elimination as now firmly within reach.

The biopharma sector opened 2026 strongly, with eight of the industry's top-25 companies achieving double-digit year-over-year revenue growth — up from six in each quarter of 2025. Eli Lilly led the pack with a striking 56% increase, driven by Mounjaro (+125% to USD $8.7B) and Zepbound (+80% to USD $4.2B), prompting the company to raise its 2026 revenue guidance to USD $82–85B.

Regeneron posted its best quarterly growth since 2021, powered by Dupixent's 33% rise to USD $4.9B, while AbbVie's Skyrizi and Rinvoq combined for USD $6.6B, marking a second straight double-digit quarter. AstraZeneca returned to double-digit growth behind oncology and rare disease portfolios.

Novo Nordisk remained the sector's notable laggard, posting a 10% sales decline, though its new oral Wegovy generated USD $355M in its first 16 weeks, offering a potential inflection point for the year ahead.

Parkinson’s disease has no licensed disease-modifying therapies, and clinical trials repeatedly fail to find success. Scientists cannot agree on a cause or even a mechanism of progression, but the issue at the heart of this is that Parkinson’s is being diagnosed too late.

Parkinson’s diagnoses typically occur at the point of obvious symptom development, but these often only appear when a patient has already lost a significant proportion of dopaminergic neurons in their brain. In fact, researchers estimate that neuronal loss may begin up to seven years pre-diagnosis, with an initial decrease in dopaminergic activity as much as 17 years pre-diagnosis1. So are patients entering clinical trials too late? If significant degeneration has already occurred, resulting in symptoms, treatments to slow degeneration are of limited use for truly preserving neurological function.

The key to success in clinical trials may be in the earlier diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s has multiple well-documented prodromal features that remain underutilized in diagnosis and clinical trial recruitment: REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD), where many as 66% of patients are thought to develop Parkinsons’s or a similar synucleinopathy within 8 years2; hyosmia, seen in 50-90% of early-stage Parkinson’s disease3; and chronic constipation, a known risk factor for Parkinson’s and potential predictor of cognitive decline4. These conditions are commonly overlooked in clinical practice, meaning that the prodromal window is repeatedly missed. Systematically screening, recruiting, and investigating people experiencing these symptoms may prove crucial to the early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and the future success of clinical trials. The prodromal window may be the most important therapeutic opportunity in Parkinson's research. We are missing it.

References

1. Ramesh S, Arachchige ASPM. Depletion of dopamine in Parkinson’s disease and relevant therapeutic options: A review of the literature. AIMS Neurosci. 2023;10(3):200-231. doi:10.3934/Neuroscience.2023017

2. Postuma RB, Gagnon JF, Bertrand JA, Génier Marchand D, Montplaisir JY. Parkinson risk in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder. Neurology. 2015;84(11):1104-1113. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000001364

3. Fullard ME, Morley JF, Duda JE. Olfactory Dysfunction as an Early Biomarker in Parkinson’s Disease. Neurosci Bull. 2017;33(5):515-525. doi:10.1007/s12264-017-0170-x

4. Camacho M, Macleod AD, Maple-Grødem J, et al. Early constipation predicts faster dementia onset in Parkinson’s disease. npj Parkinsons Dis. 2021;7(1):45. doi:10.1038/s41531-021-00191-w